Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid secured a narrow 2-1 victory over his former side, Inter Milan, in a high-octane Champions League opener on Tuesday. The record 15-time European champions took a two-goal lead through Kylian Mbappe and Fede Valverde thanks to two Inter errors in the first half. Carlos Augusto smashed home for Cristian Chivu’s team in the second half but they could not find an equaliser at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid coach Mourinho led the Italian side to Champions League glory in 2010 at the same stadium, the last time either they or he managed to lift the trophy, a few days before joining Los Blancos for his first stint at the helm.
After two seasons without a major trophy and enduring early European exits, Madrid President Florentino Perez brought back the Portuguese veteran to try and stop the rot, and Mourinho got the team off to both a triumphant and entertaining start to the league phase. Mourinho’s side bounced back from a first defeat of the season at Real Betis in La Liga on Friday, although goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made several smart saves and Inter were wasteful. The Italians started energetically in attack but were destabilised by two grievous errors at the back. Madrid stopper Courtois denied Marcus Thuram and then Lautaro Martinez as the visitors probed.
However, in the 14th minute Curtis Jones’s poor pass put Yann Bisseck under pressure and Brahim Diaz poked the ball through to Mbappe, who swiftly fired home. Madrid’s second was gobbled up by Valverde when Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez dallied on the ball despite the Uruguay international charging straight for him. When the Spanish stopper realised it was too late and as he tried to turn, Valverde pried the ball away from him and into the net. Mourinho’s side should have added another before half-time but Martinez made amends for his mistake with a sensational save to thwart Jude Bellingham.
Mbappe blazed past Inter’s defence and Martinez saved his low shot before somehow blocking Bellingham’s effort from point-blank range. Bellingham missed another golden chance before the hour mark after Diaz cleverly worked his way into the area and crossed for him. The England international might have headed home straight away but chose to control the ball and gave goalkeeper Martinez time to fly across his line and save the eventual shot. Courtois added to his collection of impressive saves by pushing away Alessandro Bastoni’s low drive as Inter tried to find a foothold.
Madrid carved Inter open but could not put the game to bed, with Martinez saving from Mbappe and Diaz then sliding narrowly wide. Carlos Augusto blasted past Courtois from Lautaro Martinez’s cross in the 77th minute to give Madrid a nervy ending to the game. Madrid fans were upset when Alvaro Carreras was made to wait for a minute on the sidelines before he could come on as a substitute, because Vinicius Jr took too long to come off when he was replaced. Courtois beat away a deflected Henrikh Mkhitaryan effort to ensure his team took all three points.
